Aldi, deep-discount grocery chain, is coming to town

OCALA -- Aldi, the German-founded, deep-discount grocery chain, has bought land in Ocala and is planning to open a store here.

Records on the Marion County Clerk of Court's Web site indicate Aldi Florida LLC recently bought land in the Scott Springs Market Center on Southwest 19th Avenue Road for $1.15 million from KMB, Inc.

Scott Springs is also home to Backyard Burger. The center is also just down the road from the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Southwest 19th Avenue Road.

A woman who answered the phone at Aldi Florida LLC's Haines City office onMarch 19 confirmed the sale. The woman, who identified herself only as Michelle, said Aldi stores are generally about 17,000 square feet.

Thad Boyd, president of KMB, Inc., did not immediately return calls to Ocala Business Journal.

According to Aldi's Web site, http://www.aldifoods.com, the chain operates 850 stores in 27 states, from Kansas to the East Coast.

Some of the chain's cost-cutting measures include:

* Offering a limited assortment of goods: about 1,300 regularly stocked items compared with some 30,000 at other chains. Aldi sells mostly private-label brands, with only an occasional national brand item.

* Building smaller stores to save on electricity and rent.

* Limiting hours. According to the company Web site, a typical Aldi store stays open "during the most popular hours for shopping," from 9 a.m. to 7 or 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

"Staying open 24 hours or late night operations would simply add labor costs and raise our prices," a statement on the Web site reads.

* Charging shoppers for bags if they don't bring their own and requiring a quarter deposit of those who use shopping carts.

* Spending little on advertising due to its private-label approach.

Aldi was founded in Germany as Albrecht Discount and the company's roots go back to 1913. The company entered the U.S. market in 1976.